“A Shelf of Old Gardening Books” 
HAM HOUSE, RICHMOND 
Rosewater and treacle, to comfort thine heart; 
Cold herbs in her garden for agues that burn, 
That over-strong heat to good temper may turn; 
White endive and succory and spinach enow, 
All such with good pot-herbs should follow the plough. 
Get water of fermitory, liver to cool, 
And others the like, or else lie like a fool. 
Conserves of barbary, quinces and such, 
With sirops that easeth the sickly so much.” 
English gardens bloomed afresh in the days of 
Oueen Bess, when the gallant sea-dogs of Devon and 
other seaboard counties scoured the Spanish main, 
and bore back from distant shores rare plants un¬ 
known to our English florists. America and the 
West Indies did good service to our English gardens, 
and gave us many of their treasures; hut the craze 
for gardening books was not yet, and few wrote 
about them. 
And now let us glance at Bacon’s Essay “Of Gar¬ 
dens,” which contains the earliest Gardener’s Calen¬ 
dar. What a wonderful array it is! And here is 
his Syl va Sylvarum , which shows what a keen interest 
the great philosopher took in rural aff airs. Here he 
shows his pleasure and delight. 
“God Almighty first planted a garden. And 
indeed it is the purest of Human Pleasures. It is 
the greatest Refreshment to the spirits of Man; with¬ 
out which Buildings and Palaces are but gross Handy- 
works.” 
He holds that there should be gardens for all the 
months of the year, in which Things of Beauty may 
be seen in Season; and thus you may have the 
Golden Age again, and a Spring all the year long. 
How Bacon loved the Breath of Flowers, and care¬ 
fully selected those that gave the sweetest scent. He 
gives the palm to the Violet, especially the White 
double Violet, which comes twice a year. The 
Musk Rose he loved, and the strawberry leaves dying 
with a most excellent cordial smell. The flower of 
the vines, Sweet Briar, Wallflower, to be set under a 
Parlour window, Pinks, Gillyflowers, Honey Suckles 
are all commended. But those which perfume the 
air most delightfully, not passed by as the rest, hut 
being trodden upon and crushed are three: that is 
Burnet, Wild Thyme, and Water-Mints. “There¬ 
fore you are to set whole Alleys of them, to have the 
pleasure when you walk or tread.” 
Bacon loved a long expanse of lawn, since nothing 
is more pleasant to the eye than green grass kept 
finely shorn. In order not to have to walk in the 
heat of the sun, you should plant a covered alley 
upon carpenter’s work, about twelve feet high, 
covered with creepers. Here he makes the first 
protest against undue formality: 
“As for knots or figures, with divers coloured earths 
—they are but toys—you may see as good sights many 
times in tarts.” 
Perhaps we should not admire the introduction into 
our gardens of broad plates of round colored glass 
for the sun to play upon. I have seen such in the 
garden of Goethe’s house at Hildersheim, hut they 
